


Becoming friends

by ceridwen_2020



Series: Early ideas for a re-imagining of the Rise of Skywalker [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Mention of past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27683114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceridwen_2020/pseuds/ceridwen_2020
Summary: Whilst holed up on Ajan Kloss, Rey and Rose have a chat about their ideas about life and the Force, finding out that they have much in common. The kind of conversation that the Rise of Skywalker was really missing.
Relationships: Rey & Rose Tico
Series: Early ideas for a re-imagining of the Rise of Skywalker [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024378
Kudos: 2





	Becoming friends

‘Do you want a drink, Rey?’ Rose was worried about her friend, for the past two days Rey had sequestered herself away to read old, dusty books, hardly moving from the roof of the old bunker that looked out over the surrounding jungle.  
‘I’m alright, thanks,’ said Rey softly, looking up at Rose gratefully. She needed a change of scene. ‘Why don’t you come and sit with me for a bit? I could do with the company.’  
‘Of course.’ Rose took a seat beside her, glad for a distraction from a challenging wiring problem. She had spent all morning on it but was still no further towards a resolution. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Resistance command centre, she could think more clearly. ‘It’s so peaceful out here.’  
‘It is.’ Rey was glad of the distraction too, she had spent most of the previous day either reading or training on her own. Finn was away with Poe on a supply run, and everyone else had been busy with their day to day routines. Rey had literally begged Leia for something to do, but Leia would hear none of it, telling her that it was important for her to develop her confidence in her Force powers as much as she could, for they had no idea when would those powers would be needed - or tested. ‘I love watching the birds and the animals - they’re so free.’  
‘Not like us, eh?’ Rose stretched her legs out, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face, ‘What are you looking at?’  
‘It’s Luke’s journal,’ Rey explained, ‘I er borrowed it when I took the books from Ahch-To.’ It turned out to be a serendipitous move, as it was one of the most useful things in the pile.  
‘I’ve never, ever seen handwriting before,’ Rose was peering over at the book, examining the loops and shapes made by the pen and ink. ‘To think that people used to write like this all the time.’  
‘It’s amazing, isn’t it?’ Rey flicked through the book, showing her drawings and diagrams that Luke, and others, had made.  
‘They’re beautiful,’ breathed Rose, leaning over, her head close to Rey’s, ‘all the work that has gone into that picture.’   
They were looking at a sketch of a Jedi Temple on Elphrona, its carved exterior brought to life through simple washes of pen and charcoal. The picture seemed so fragile yet it was already many years old, a memory of an adventure. Tiny figures were shown standing in front of the temple, looking up at its impossibly high architecture, tiny labels indicating their names for posterity.  
‘That’s Lor San Tekka,’ read Rey, squinting to read the tiny letters, ‘I think he was a friend of Luke’s?’  
‘Yes, he gave Poe the map to find Luke, before he was murdered by Kylo Ren,’ said Rose.  
‘Really?’ Rey looked up in surprise, ‘but this other person here is Ben.’  
‘Oh?’  
‘He was Luke’s apprentice before he…’  
‘Turned to the dark side?’   
Rey nodded, ‘I didn’t think he would…’ she trailed off - that fact that Ben had once travelled with Lor San Tekka made his murder seem even more senseless.  
‘They must have had some amazing adventures,’ Rose went on hurriedly, realising that something had upset Rey, hoping to distract her.  
‘Yes, Luke went all over the place, right up to the edges of Unknown Space.’  
She turned the page and it fell open on a triangular shaped artefact, made of glass and metal. It seemed that this had once been an important page, someone had turned the corner over so as not to lose it.   
Rose peered at it with interest, ‘What’s that?’  
‘A Sith holocron,’ said Rey, reading Luke’s small, neat handwriting. ‘Similar to the Jedi holocron, it is a way of storing information but it can only be retrieved by a dark side user of the Force.’  
Rose shivered, ‘I don’t know how you manage to read this stuff, it gives me the creeps.’  
‘Oh, believe me, its better than those,’ said Rey, indicating the book pile next to her. ’There’s only so many times you can read about the Jedi code. Luke was looking for treasure, temples, sites of power, I can’t even begin to imagine the things he saw, and the places he went to.’ Perhaps it was a hangover from her life as a scavenger but the idea of travelling around the galaxy looking for valuable artefacts appealed to her.  
‘Is that what you would be doing if life hadn’t brought you here?’ asked Rose, realising that she knew very little about Rey. She knew she came from Jakku, and had fallen into the Resistance by sheer coincidence, but other than that, Rey was a mystery.  
‘No,’ Rey shook her head sadly, ‘I would still be stuck on Jakku waiting for my family to come back. But,’ she said more brightly, ‘when I first met Han Solo, he offered me a job on the Falcon. I really wish I’d taken him up on it.’  
Rose laughed, ‘Han certainly would have been fun to work with, I never met him but I’ve heard all the stories. The scrapes he got into.’  
‘I don’t think there would ever have been a dull moment, that’s for sure.’ Then she looked sad, ‘Guess I’ll never know now.’ She looked at Rose, ‘What about you?’  
‘I don’t know,’ said Rose sadly, ‘my home planet was pretty much taken over by the First Order. The only opportunity was going to work for them. I would’ve hated it.’  
‘Is that why you joined the Resistance?’  
‘Yes, our parents took a great risk sending us here, me and Paige.’ She looked away, ‘I never did find out what happened to them.’  
‘Why do you think the First Order hate us so much?’ Rey hugged her knees close to her chest.  
‘I don’t know.’ Rose shrugged. ‘From what I know about the First Order, they’re all the children of people who served in the Empire, or were kidnapped and brainwashed from a young age. They don’t know anything else. It seems perfectly reasonable to them that all their resources be used to impose what they call ‘order' and take over the galaxy. I guess to them, our lives must seem chaotic and meaningless.’  
‘I’d rather be dirty and happy than clean and miserable like General Hux,’ frowned Rey. ‘Seriously, people like Hux, I don’t get why they want to control everything. There are so many things outside of our control.’  
‘Isn’t that what the Jedi teach, to let go of things?’ She looked apologetic, ‘I don’t know much about the Jedi apart from that.’  
‘That’s their most important lesson,’ said Rey, ‘but it’s also the hardest. I mean, they want you to let go of everything - to trust in the Force that things are as they should be.’ She sighed heavily, ‘But I don’t understand how.’  
‘Me neither, if we took it to its logical conclusion then nothing would ever change,’ said Rose, ‘and that’s not good, is it?’  
‘No,’ agreed Rey. ‘But Luke told me that the Jedi were wrong about many things. They became too dogmatic, too convinced of their own importance. They stopped questioning things. And that’s when the Sith took over.’  
‘That’s what I’ve always admired about Leia,’ said Rose softly, ‘she always questions her cause and what she believes in. I can’t ever imagine her becoming complacent.’  
‘No,’ said Rey quietly, ‘we need more leaders like Leia.’  
They sat together in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the jungle echoing around them. Both knowing that Leia was getting weaker by the day, knowing that soon her time would come to an end. And then what would happen to the Resistance?  
‘I better get back,’ said Rose regretfully, stretching her arms above her head, ‘that wiring problem won’t solve itself.’ She got to her feet then held out her hand to Rey, ‘Are you coming back?’  
‘No, not yet,’ said Rey, accepting Rose’s hand and climbing to her feet. ‘I need to get some exercise before bed, I’m not sleeping so well at the moment.’  
‘How so?’ Rose knew that Rey trained harder than anyone she had ever known. Surely she must be exhausted?  
‘Too many thoughts churning around my head,’ said Rey lightly, ‘you know how it is.’  
‘I do.’ Rose squeezed her hand, ‘Come and see me later if you’ve got time, we’ll have that drink.’  
‘I will,’ Rey watched as Rose jumped down from the top of the bunker and walked back towards the base. ‘Let’s go,’ she said quietly to herself and started stretching her arms and legs in readiness.


End file.
